Improvement in machines for cleaning and finishing silk and thread



v l 4Sheets.-`-Sheet. CHRISTOPHER L.'FR|NK.

improvement in Machines. 'for` Claningvand Finishing Silk and Thred.

No. 121,505. PaientedD-emmisn.

4 Sheets--Sheet 2.. CHRISTOPHE-R L.F R|NK.

improvement in Machines. for Cleaning and Finishing'Silk and Thread.

NO. 121,505. Patented Dec.5,i87i.

I jay. 2,

#Sheets-Sheet 3.

Pate ed Dec. 5,1871.

CHRISTOPH-ER L.FH|NK.'

improvement in MachinesQfor-Cieaning and Finishing Silk and Thread.

Nif-.121,505

, Eval-4502i.-

iSheets--Sheet4.l CHRISTOPHER L. FRINK.

Improvement in Machines. for Cleaning lsind Finishing Silk and Thread.

N0. 121,505. Patented Dec. 5, 1.871.

jeter gli@ e un UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIG CHRISTOPHER L. FRINK, OFVERNON, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FDR CLEANING AND FINISHING SILK AND THREAD.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 121,505, dated December5, 1871.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER L. FRINK, of Vernon, inthe county ofTolland and State of Gonnecticut, have invented certain Improvements inMachines for Cleaning and Finishing Silk and Thread; and I do herebydeclare that the following, taken in connection with the drawing whichaccompanies and forms part of this specification, is a description of myinvention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

My improvements consist in a peculiar construction of a rollfor giving afriction, stretch, and polish to the thread, and for distributing andgiving uniformity to the twist therein, and avoid` ing the liability ofhaving the thread cut through into the roll; in a novel mechanism forstopping the movement of any set of polishing-rolls when its threadbreaks; iu a novel mechanism for promptly arresting the winding motionof the spools of any given head when one of its threads breaks; in aspecial combination of devices for giving the traverse in winding; insuch arra-ngement and action of mechanism on either side, as also onopposite sides, of the frame as to equalize and neutralize the thrustand jarring; and in certain other details hereinafter stated, themachine also acting as a perfect stretcher ofthe silk or thread.

Figure 1 is an end view of my machine, one of a series of sets of thedevices which operate upon the several threads being illustrated at theleft of the frame, although in practice a series of similar sets ofmechanism is used on the opposite side of the frame, as is seen in partin Fig. 2, which is a cross section. Fig. 3 is a front view, with thespools and first tension apparatus in part cut away. Figs. 4, 4Jrepresent the adjustable traverse mechanism detached. Figs. 5 and 6 aredetails of the stop mechanism; Fig. 7, other details, and Fig. 8, planand sectional views of my improved roller.

A is the frame of the machine; B, the main shaft, which, by means ofbelt b running over pulley b2 on shaft B1, imparts motion throughconnecting-rod C to the rocking arm D on rockshaft E, a toothed sector,F, on such shaft engaging with and giving motion to a similar sector, G,on a lower rock-shaft, H, upon which is a rocking arm, I, similar to armD. To each end of the arms D and I is pivoted a lever-arm, J, having anotch, 1, to receive a boss or projection, 2, upon the rear of therising-and-falling head K. Every pair of arms J in their normal positionis kept in engagement with the projections 2 up on the heads by means ofyielding connections 3 at the outer ends of the arms. These heads, aswill be seen, are arranged to ride vertically in ways or guides 4 in theuprights 5, both on the front and rear of the frame, being actuated bythe reciprocatory movements of the arms J and it will be seen, byreference to Figs. l and 2, that when the heads on one side of the frameare moving in a given direction the corresponding ones on the oppositeside are moving in the opposite direction; and also those upon the oneside do not rise and fall together, but that when one half ascends theother half descends, and Vice versa. This construction and arrangementcause the shocks and jarring of one half the machinery to balance andneutralize those of the other half. Each head is supplied with two ormore rollers, L, for each thread, having a special and novelconstruction, and for a special purpose hereinafter described. M is astationary bracket, with grooved tension-pins or rods 6 6, and locatedto receive the silk directly from a delivery-spool, N, and between itand the polishingrolls L. The silk from the spool passes to and fro,crossing itself several times over the pins, and thence to the lowerpolishing cone-rolls L, making a turn around each, and thence to thesimilar upper rolls L', and making a turn around each; after which itpasses over the roll c or c on the rod O or 0 and thence under the looseroll d or d', on the traverse-rod e or e to the winding or receivingspool Q or Q', the spindle R of which derives positive motion from shaftS through the gears T U, the shaft S being driven from shaft V by meansof a belt, 7, the shaft V being itself driven from shaft B by means of abelt running from pulley V to V. W is a springlatch supported in abracket, w, and, in its normal position, while the mechanism is workingproperly, it is locked to place against the force of its spring 8 by adrop-bar, X. The inner end of this latch is of arc form, as seen, andthe outer lower end of this arc has a side projection or catch, 9. Uponeach of the levers J is a pin, j, which, when the latch is not locked bythe dropbar X, and is consequently forced inward by the spring 8, iscaused by the movements of the lever to ride upon the convex edge of thearc and thus force lever J ontof engagement with its head. The upperhead, when so released, drops by gravity, and is received by the coiledspring l0 to ease the fall.

These movements take place when any one of the threads break, so thatthe mechanism which has been acting upon such thread shall cease tooperate, but such stoppage in nowise disturbing the movements of theother mechanism operating on any of the other threads.

This unlocking of bar X upon the breakin g of the thread is effected asfollows: Projecting' laterally from the bar, near its top, is a pin orarm, a', adjustable as to height, around which is loosely coiled astop-motion wire, 11, as seen, the ends of which are bent horizontallyin opposite dir-m tions. Under each of these ends a thread passes on itswa-y toward the receivingspool and keepsA it swung out and supported inan elevated position. 0n the breaking of a thread this wire drops so asto be in the path of the rising head, which, as it rises, strikes it andlifts it and with it the bar X. The lifting of bar X lifts also theouter end of the lever Y, which is supported by it, and as this outerend is just beneath a boss on the gears T U of the spindle of thereceiving spools such gears are thus lifted and disengaged from thegears S', which drive them, and thus the windingspool is automaticallystopped by the breaking of its thread.

A brake-lever, Z, furnished with rubber pads z-preferably inserted inholes drilled through the leveris arranged so tha-t as the spools arelifted their heads or their spindle-heads shall be brought into directcontact with the brake and stopped 5 and the companion-spool is likewisestopped and prevented from unwinding by reason of the tension of itsthread. The smooth metallic under surface of the brake rests, when themachine is in operation, upon the flange or boss of the spool-spindlegear and does not act as a brake, and the rubber is at such time notoperative 5 but when, upon the breaking' of the silk, the arm lifts thespool, this movement of the arm and spool brings the dan ge or hub intorange with the rubber, which then acts, to prevent the spool beingunwound and its silk being made slack, by the back pull, and so avoidsits liability to spring back and fly oft' from the rolls on thecleaner-heads. As but one of the con'lpanionthreads may break and notthe other, the stoppage of either winding-spool will cause the stoppageof the other, as they are both geared together, and similarly theprevention bythe brake of the unwindin g of one, will prevent anyunwindin g of the other. lf the rubber pads are so applied as to bebrought into action upon the flanges of both the companion-spools thenthat whose thread is not broken will (as well as the other) be therebyprevented from any further revolution.

A spring-catch, j', is connected with each of the lower heads K, andwhich performs no duty unless a thread breaks; in such case, after thelatch 'W has sprung inward upon its release from rod X the lateralprojection g comes within the range of its upward movement, permittingthis catch to take hold upon the projection g and hold the headsuspended and out of the way of the notch 1 of arm J, whose pin j thencommences to ride on the arc 'w' before the notch could engage with theprojection. To lodge the catch on the projection g on the arc w theinertia of the head in its upward rise assists to carry or throw it alittle upward beyond the height which its carrier reaches beforebecoming disengaged from it. WVhenthe silk is pieced, and all is readyto resume, the latch W is pulled back, the rod X drops and locks it, andall the other parts take their proper places and proceed to work again.

The devices for giving the traverse motion to he silk as it is deliveredto the winding-spool so as to lay its oils evenly, and for varying thetraverse for different sizes of spools, are as follofwsz A heart-shapedcam, 12, is secured upon a shaft, 13, which latter' gets its motion fromgear 14 on said shaft through a worm, 15, on shaft S, as seen in Figs. 1and 3. This cam, in its revolution, bears upon the pins 16 and 17,projecting, respectively, from the vibrating upright bent bars 1S and19. The bar 18 is pivoted at 20 to hanger 21, and the bar 19 is pivotedto bar 18, its top being also connected to it by a spring, 22, as seenin Figs. 1, 3, and 4,' the spring serving to keep the pins on the barsin contact with the edges of the heart-cam. At the upper end of the bar1b is a slotted adjustable eXtension piece, 23, which, by means of aset-screw, 24, may be raised or lowered to vary the operative length andconsequent extent of vibration of the bar 1S. sion piece 23 is pivotedone end of a bent rod, 25, the other end of which is connected to a yokeor pendant, 2G, which is rigidly secured to Jthe traverse-rod c, as seenin Figs. el and 4b.

The revolution of the cam and vibration of bar 18 actuate the bent rod25, which thus gives reciprocating motion to the traverse-rod c. Thegrooved rolls 27 on the traverse-rods, and also upon the rods O, are soapplied to the rods as to be free to have slight p1ay-of, say,one-eighth of an inch-lengthwise of the rod. This dispenses with theneed of a constantly-variable tra-verse to wind upon spools having headsslightly conical, inasmuch as under the tension ofthe silk eachlast-wound layer at the end of each tra-versc shifts such grooved rolllaterally enough to permit the coils to be wound closely up to the head.The play allowed for this is made sufficient for any spools adapted tobe wound on the machine. A thread is cut for a short distance on each ofthe spindles which carry the receiving or winding-spools, and a nutthereon serves to tighten the spool. Spools of different lengths maythus be applied to the same spindle.

Heretofore, in machines for polishing silk and other threads, therollers-around which the silk is coiled once or more times to cause itto receive a polish by friction caused by the reciprocating movements ofthe head-have been made with a cylindrical barrel and a ange at eachend, or without a barrel between the lian ges, the flanges themselvesmeeting at an acute angle.

In practice the silk cuts its way directly into these rolls, in timecutting the last-described one entirely into two pieces, rand cutting'the other one into grooves at the angles formed by the barrel with itsflanges. The grooves so cut destroy To the upper end of the exteninsteadof improving the silk, and actually pre1 vent the proper lateral play ofthe coils, whereby the silk should not only abra-de aga-inst itself, butso shift its position as to roll on its axis and constantly present anew surface so that every part shall be equally and fully polished.\Vith the cylindrical barrel this rolling action also takes place to avery slight degree, if at all, as the silk, when not embedded in thegroove worn at the end of the cylindrical portion, slips .or slidesreadily across the barrel, and, in so doing, the coils are almost,certain to separate out of contact with each other.

.To insure the most efficient and uniform action on the silk and give ita high and even luster, I make my rolls, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8,without any angle at its smallest diameter to receive the thread, andwhich would permit a cutting into the metal and also without a cylinder.On

I y the contrary, I make the barrel 28 of my roller of-a conical form,as seen at Fig. 8, and Iavoid any angle where the smaller diameter ofthe cone meets the head or ila-nge by giving a graduallycontinuouscurvature, the two thus gently running into each other without anypositive line of junction.

It will now be seen that any tendency of lateral play of the coils, whenthe heads reverse their motion, impels them up upon the cone, and itsgradually-varying diameter compels a rolling of the silk thereon,whether riding up or down the cone; and that this rolling actionpresents ever-varyin g surfaces of contact of the silk both againstitself and against the roll.

The action of these rolls also distributes and renders uniform the twistof the silk, and consequently strengthens it, as the weaker or lessiirmly-twisted parts are made to receive a part of the twist which mayhave been unduly given to other parts in the process of its manufacture.It will also be seen that, when the coils are at the bottom of the cone,there is no liability to cut the roll nor to be cut by it, inasmuch asthey lie in a curved bed; and the tendency of the movements of the silkin its wear upon the roll is to wear it only into the same curved formand thus preserve rather than-as in rolls heretofore used-destroy itsshape and efliciency.

My rod is also more readily cleaned than any other known to me, ofsubstances or thread which may accidentally wind in orupon it.

The larger end of the cone may have a flange or not, as desired; butordinarily it will be unnecessary, as the silk is not likely (under thetension given it while being polished) to ride entirely up and off thecone. y

I ind by experience that my roll never frays or frets the silk, and willclean or nish twice the quantity of any other roll known or tried by me.

The course taken by the silk is from the delivery-spool N to and aroundthe pins of the iirst stationary tension apparatus 5 thence to andaround the polishing-rollers upon the lower head; thence to and aroundthe polishing-rollers of the upper head 5 thence under and supportingthe stop-motion wire ll and over a loose guide-roller, c or c', on rodO, next under asimilar roller, d, on the traversing rod e and nally tothe spool upon which it is wound.

Each head has two pairs of (or sets comprising more than two)polishing-rollers, and acts at the same time upon two threads drawn fromtwo spools.

The number of rolls for each head I increase at will7 according to thelabor required on the silk to be cleaned, instead of increasing thespeed of the heads to accomplish the same purpose.

There are also two sets of guide and traversing-rollers, one for eachthread, and a separate receiving-spool for each thread, as shown in thedrawing.

I claiml. rlhe thread-polishing roll L, formed with a conical-sh apedbarreland a flange at its smaller end, the two meeting in a curved line,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The stop mechanism for the heads, consisting of the combination, witheach set of polishing-heads, of a drop-rod, X, and its stop-wire 11,spring-latch w having a notch for such rod7 and an arc to disconnect theheads from the mechanism which actuates them, the parts operating asdescribed.

3. The stop mechanism for each set of receiving-spools, consisting ofthe drop-rod X and its stop-wire ll, actuated bythe head K, lever Y, andgear-spindle R, the whole operating substantially as described.

4. In combination with the devices enumerated in the last-precedingclaim, the padded brakelever Z, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

5. In combination with the traverse-rod and its actuating cam, theyoke-bar 18 19 having an.

Witnesses:

BENEZEK H. BILL, KATE G. BILL. (17)

